Chapter 1: The Outcast

Ruto knew full well if he lost this game of pazaak all these months of saving up enough credits to get off this rock would be wasted. With no cards left in his deck and a total of 18 on the table he knew he had to go for it.

"Hit me." called Ruto to the dealer.

With a flip of a card Ruto knew that all these months of hard work and lying his way through problems had just gone down the drain. A six lay before him and with no cards in his deck to use the game was over.

"To bad." Said the dealer with a smirk, "at least now I have enough credits to last me a good month on drinks."

The dealer grabbed the sack of credits, turned and stopped.

"I'm surprised". Said the dealer, "when people usually lose to me they make a big scene to try to get their money back. I wouldn't want to cause a scene with a kid like you." The whole time the dealer said this he was patting the blaster pistol at his side.

"Don't worry," said Ruto. "You won fair and square there is no reason to cause someone to get hurt."

The dealer grunted and left the table. Ruto got up and left the cantina. As he was walking he pulled a second bag out of his pocket and opened it to check that all of his credits were there.

I hope that guy doesn't mind a bag of pebbles instead of credits, Ruto thought to himself. Ruto jogged down the broken streets full of trash dodging all the scavengers and gang members he could until he got to the abandoned apartment building he called home.

He trudged up the stairs until he got to his glorious dwelling. It was a small room. Big enough for a single dirty outcast to live. In the back corner layed a dirty mattress with a few thin cloths and blankets on them and a little bag with Ruto's few belongings. To the right of the room lay a counter with a sink and a mirror, but nothing else. One window looked out onto the abandoned dirty streets. Dirt was plentiful and only a single light lit up.

Ruto walked over to the sink. Even though the building has been abandoned Ruto was able to go to the boiler room and get the water and electricity working.

He washed his face and looked up at himself in the cracked mirror. A thin pale face looked back at him. Thick brown messy hair sat on his head. Two eyes, one blue one green, looked back at him longfully.

It's been eight long months since he has left the Jedi Order. Living in the lower city of Coruscant has it's tolls, but thanks to the Jedi training Ruto has been able to get through the hardship. He's been saving up to buy a ticket to leave Coruscant. Where he would go he didn't know. He did know that wherever it was it will be far away from here and far away from the Jedi.

Ruto, tired from the day,trudged to his mattress and collapsed onto it. He hoped tomorrow would be the last day he would have to be in this room. The next thing he knew he had fallen into a deep sleep.